Dumped on by Diving Companies Again

[deadend]

Calling, writing, and e-mailing Dacor/Mares has given me nothing but a headache. No response whatsoever. The company sucks and I'll tell everyone I can about it. I bought my Dacor reg. because a Dacor rep. convinced me that It would be something that I'd have for 20+ years as did my father. I was about to buy Scubapro but I was impressed with what the rep. had to say. So yeah, I'm pissed.

THANKS ....... I LOVE IT WHEN SOMEONE GETS THE MESSAGE ....if enough divers "just say no to Dacor" maybe they will rethink their position ......

 

[Always Breath]

You can still get parts for many old regs. However when it comes to Mares and Dacor
the idiots in connecticut who run the US distribution, should all be fired. They have no clue as to how to run a supply chain nor how to manage a dealer network. Don't blame the dealer for the sins of Supplier.

 

[budgy]

Personally I've had the same problem with Aqualung, and eventualy junked my Aqualung pro reg which I couldn't get serviced. The Scuba pro distributor in the U.K. is pretty good, so far they have honoured the products I have bought. They replaced the body on a mk500 2nd stage that split and a new mask when the crystal Vu mask shattered. When they couldn't replace a corroded body on my mk20/Ul I was given a new mk/25. Okay it wasn't an u/l 1st stage but still fair exchange. I now own 4 more scuba pro regs. I don't buy Aqualung products, their products may be okay, but as far as I'm concerned, their not.

 

[wmspdi]

I believe consumer law only requires a manufacturer to provide parts (support) for a product for a period of 7 years after the product has been discontinued. I had a Fiero that I loved, but I sold it when GM stopped supporting it, and the parts supply started to dry up. Granted GM didn't give me a lifetime warranty, but read the fine print on your lifetime warranty. I'm sure you'll find the company left themselves an out burried in all of the legal mumbo jumbo. I just dumped all of my Scubapro gear (and switched to Atomics) because I could no longer agree with their restrictions and requirements for needless annual service to maintain the warranty. Vote with your dollars... money talks and bull**** walks.

 

[Creed]

The best answer is to be a good capitalist and exploit this market opportunity. If there really are all these Dacor regs out there that need servicing, start up a company to sell the needed service parts. If Mares has no interest in selling to this market, you may be able to acquire the old Dacor tooling for little more than scrap value. Even if Mares won't sell and you have to reverse-engineer the parts, the R&D costs would be pretty low. Everything depends on whether the potential market is big enough to repay your investment costs. I suspect that Mares already did that analysis, and declined to spend its money that way. But maybe not.

Sorry, but I just had to respond to this

These guys could do the molding for the diaphrams and misc plastic bits: http://www.mocapcmg.com/rubber_molding.asp

These guys could provide you with orings: http://www.air-oil.com/seals.htm

And you would just have to give a good machine shop a set of disassembled metal parts to dupe those bits.

Presto! You are in business! Sell the parts kits as strictly display restoration quality to minimize your liability, and rake in the millions of dollars. The sweet part of the deal is that the original companies did all of the design work for you. As long as you aren't violating a patent(and the gear we are discussing is probably too old to have a current patent), you can use OEM parts as templates for yours.

But, hurry! My Olympic 200 is THIS close to becoming a wall decoration. Or is that dacoration?

 

[shooter226]

That Scubapro keeps parts for their regs forever is a bunch of BS!

Try getting parts for a Pilot or an Air l regulator.

Mark

 

[scubapro50]

GOOD NEWS ........ MARES/DACOR has heard our cries for help and responded with a new program to help solve the problem. They are offering a trade in program for owners of Dacor regulators made before 2000. to find out more about the program go to www.scubaboard.com/t110024-.html for more details ...........

 

[tzeyap]

GOOD NEWS ........ MARES/DACOR has heard our cries for help and responded with a new program to help solve the problem. They are offering a trade in program for owners of Dacor regulators made before 2000. to find out more about the program go to www.scubaboard.com/t110024-.html for more details ...........

I remain sceptical about Dacor 'hearing our cries' and responding.

For your information the street price for Abyss 2005 in Asia is just a litlle over $300.
Remember DA Aquamaster's post about Mares/Dacor taking advantage of the formerly strong customer loyalty of the Dacor customer base ?

Further, what about other Dacor products apart from regulators ? We haven't heard much about programs for those products. Why is this programme restricted to only North America ? What about their obligations to international customers ? We haven't heard a squeak on that either. I am cynical as to whether this programme is really designed with customer service in mind or an opportunity to increase sales for the next few quarters.

Phil Mintz appears to be doing a creditable job in representing Dacor on this board. However why is it that the Director of Marketing ( or ist Sales ?) has to come on to this board to take the flak from irate customers and manage individual customer's problems ? That indicates to me that there is something not right about the customer service organisation within the company.

 

[Vtdiver2]

I was using a DACOR PACER XL until I couldn't get parts for it anymore. My LDS isn't a DACOR dealer, and when they tried getting me parts, their sources were hoarding what parts they had left for their regular customers, I can't blame them for that. Who I do blame is MARES for only buying DACOR's name and not the tooling and backing up warranties.
For that reason, I will NEVER buy anything made by MARES.
Chris
PS If anyone knows where to get replacement parts for my PAcer XL, PM me please.

 

[Wayward Son]

A "lifetime warranty" isn't much good when the comapny stops providing parts for the items that were sold to you last year.

That is what happened with Dacor, and that is why so many people are so pissed off.

Dacor did not make this decision. They were sold and the new owners arbitrarily decided to stop any and all support for products sold before the buyout.

To put it bluntly, they made the choice to take a crap all over a large & very loyal customer base.

Now, years later, the same owners that screwed their customers before are saying "What a great offer! Trade up that old regulator that you can't get service (and forget that we're the reason you can't) and give us even more of your money!"

Maybe they won't screw you again in the future. Maybe they will.

I for one won't take the chance. I'll stick with companies that have a better track record.

I still have no problems getting service & parts for my Scubapro Mk 5 that I bought new in 1978. I'm still diving it, it's my only reg.

I bought my wife a Scubapro, bc I have been happy with both the products and my history with them. When I buy another reg, it will likely be either a Scubapro or a Zeagle, possibly some other brands.

It will NOT be a Dacor or a Mares.

They've screwed the pooch. This pooch is in no mood to give them a chance to do it again.